With second place secured and a first-round playoff game at home guaranteed, the Champion football team will close out the regular season Friday at Manor.
The Chargers and Mustangs face off Friday, 7 p.m.
After Friday’s contest in Manor, the Chargers will be home next week to host a playoff game. Champion is still not sure who they play since teams are still playing for seeding in the opposing district, but head coach Blane Ellis said it’ll be business as usual against Manor.
“We want to stay sharp, so we’re going to have a playoff mentality. It’s that time of year when we need to start getting into that mentality,” he said. “If we make a deep run like we’re expecting to make, then this is the back half of our season and we have to have a do-or-die mentality rolling into the rest of the year, so we’re going to treat it the same as any other game.”
Champion (8-1, 6-1) is coming off a 61-0 win over Austin McCallum last Friday at home, while Manor (5-4, 4-3) is currently in fourth place with one game left. A win by the Mustangs would secure the playoff spot up for grabs in 13-5A DI.
Ellis said the Mustangs are talented.
“They’re athletic and can be explosive, so we have to limit their explosive plays,” he said. “We have to play really physical.”
Last Friday against McCallum, Caleb Farias ran for five TDs for the second time this year. Farias and Ellis both gave credit to the offensive line. The Chargers have scored at least 55 points in every win.
“Our O line has done a tremendous job all year,” Ellis said. “As a group, they’ve meshed really well and I’m super proud of their physicality as well.”
Champion did turn the ball over on Friday at least twice on Friday and that’s coming off four turnovers the previous week in their only loss this year at Smithson Valley.
“We’ve had way too many in the last two games and if we want to be playing for a state championship, we have to take care of the football,” Ellis said.
The coach said the defense turned in a great effort as they recorded their third shutout this season.
“We get a lot of attention on offense because we’re scoring a lot of points, but I think one thing that is being overlooked is our defense,” he said.
Speaking of defense, Inaki Colsa intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown. That’s something the Chargers have done a lot this year.
“That’s about six or seven this year,” Ellis said after Friday’s game.
